Connecticut will have the decided home-court advantage this weekend at the Garden. But it will be nothing compared to the homecoming for Terrence Samuel.
Friday night’s Sweet 16 matchup against Iowa State at the Garden is just a subway ride from the South Shore High School product’s Canarsie home. The freshman’s eyebrows rose, and he froze for a moment when asked what he expects Friday night.
“I know I’m going to be nervous when I get out there,” said Samuel, the lone city product expected to see action in the two East Regional semifinal games. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
Samuel dreamed of this opportunity in high school, hoping to lead South Shore to the Garden for the PSAL championship game. He never got there, losing in the quarterfinals his last three seasons.
Maybe he was saving his best for college. The 6-foot-4 guard scored a career-high 11 points, including 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, in seventh-seeded UConn’s upset of second-seeded Villanova in the third round of the NCAA Tournament’s East region.
“It’s definitely a great feeling,” he said. “I looked up at the scoreboard in the Villanova game just to see myself there, to see, ‘Wow. I’m really a part of this.’ ”
Samuel didn’t begin to take basketball seriously until the eighth grade. He played Pop Warner football growing up, before suffering a broken ankle at the age of 11. He wanted to continue on the gridiron, but his mother, Wilma, wouldn’t allow it, forcing him to choose basketball, his other sport.
“I’d probably be at Notre Dame, the starting quarterback, [if not for that decision],” he said jokingly.
Samuel quickly developed in basketball, following the path of his cousin, South Shore assistant coach Shawn Mark. A heady floor general, Samuel began to land scores of scholarship offers the summer before his junior year and picked UConn the fall of his senior year — in large part because of coach Kevin Ollie, a former NBA point guard he felt he could learn from.
A single mother, Wilma said she couldn’t afford to pay for college, but basketball erased that problem. Samuel wears his UConn gear proudly when he’s home, to show how far he has come.
“He always talked about being successful. He told me, ‘Ma, I’m going to college when I get older. I’ll make you rich,’ ” recalled Wilma, a bank administrator for Grenada. “He promised me he was going to be the first one [from our family to go to college]. The fact he’s in college and the fact he’s enjoying what he likes — basketball — makes me proud.”
His freshman season hasn’t necessarily gone as Samuel imagined. He got off to a rough start, failing to get off the bench in five of the team’s first 11 games. During that time, he admitted to doubting himself, watching others play for the first time in his career. Senior point guard Shabazz Napier kept Samuel’s spirits up, recalling early in his own freshman season, when his playing time was scarce.
By the end of that season, Napier recalled, he was a champion. When Napier’s pep talks didn’t work, Samuel called home, and Mark told him to prove to Ollie in practice he belonged on the court.
“I just prepared myself to be ready for this,” Samuel said.
His minutes have fluctuated nevertheless, depending on foul trouble and the health of Napier and fellow guard Ryan Boatright. But Samuel is in the rotation now, and is coming off the best game of his young career.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Mark said. “I’m in a dream world right now. A few months back he wasn’t getting into games. … There’s nothing better than to see your family shine. I’ve known him since he was in diapers. I’m proud of the person he has become.”
Samuel is part of the proud recent South Shore alumni family, along with Wayne Martin and Shamiek Sheppard. Martin just enjoyed a productive freshman season at St. Francis-Brooklyn while Sheppard has signed with South Carolina after a post-graduate year at Fishburne Military School (Va.). Entering high school, the three had options to go elsewhere, to established basketball programs such as Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Boys & Girls upon entering high school. They all chose South Shore.
Samuel is the first to hit the big time — the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden.
“[South Shore] Coach Mike Beckles told me when I was coming there, ‘you’re going to go to a big-time college,’” Samuel said. “I trusted him and he got me here.”